Bomb scare at Culdrose Air Day

Members of the public were left stranded at Culdrose Air Day until 11.30pm last Thursday after becoming caught up in a bomb scare.

On what proved to be a dramatic day at the air base, just an hour after a plane crashed landed during the flying display a suspicious package was discovered.

Visitors attempting to return to their cars at around 6.30pm were stopped in their tracks.

The delay affected around 12 people who were parked in an area of the main base near to the former golf course, plus a number of naval personnel.

They were put onboard a coach and taken to the other side of the air base, on the opposite side of the road, where they were given dinner in the restaurant and then taken to the petty officers' mess, where a free bar was laid on.

Among the stranded group was the Greet family from Cury.

Marilyn Greet, who was stuck with her husband Phil and son Kyle, told the Packet: “We couldn't have asked for better treatment.”

She said that she had not been to Air Day for a number of years, adding: “After the crash I thought, 'I don't know if I should be here today' - that was quite scary. Having this afterwards... I might give it a miss next year!”

Mrs Greet said everyone remained in good humour, although she admitted: “At one point we were thinking, 'Are we going to get home tonight?' We just had to wait for the bomb squad to see what the package was.”

Everyone was finally able to leave at around 11.30pm, after a bomb disposal team was called from Devon - and they discovered that the offending package was in fact an ottoman filled with toys.

Because the base had been open to the public all day, however, extra precautions had to be taken.

A spokesman for RNAS Culdrose confirmed that there had been an incident but had no further details.

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